


Of Healing Hands and Handling Business

by NicePumpkinSpice



Series: Of Sweet Memories and Guarded Moments [33]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-03-20
Packaged: 2018-03-18 18:31:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3579588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NicePumpkinSpice/pseuds/NicePumpkinSpice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Solas thinks about his relationship with the Inquisitor.  Evelyn describes to Cullen how Cassandra reacted to Varric's gift.  Cullen tries to discuss Inquisition business as Evelyn endeavors to distract him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Healing Hands and Handling Business

Solas examined Evelyn’s hand. The dracolisk’s bite had avulsed much of the skin on her fingers and palm. The mark was stable, though. Healing the wound without disrupting the mark’s magic would require precision, and Solas was relieved that Evelyn hadn’t tried to tackle it herself. He looked at the Inquisitor’s face. She was pale, clammy, and in obvious pain. 

“I should be able to mend your wounds without affecting the mark. It will, however, take several sessions, and you will have to be compliant.” His steel blue eyes glared at her. She had been an awful patient after Imshael nearly killed her - constantly reopening her wounds by moving around too much.

Evelyn looked down from his gaze. “I understand.”

A faint smile passed over the elf’s face and then he set to work. He would heal her fingers and the back of her hand first. They were far enough from the mark that his efforts wouldn’t disrupt its magic. Her palm would present a challenge. Fortunately, he was intimately familiar with the mark’s magic. It was _his_ magic after all. 

As he worked, Solas considered his relationship with the odd woman. He first saw her as a means to an end - closing the breach and regaining his orb, but she had endeared herself to him with her open mind and generous heart. The People would have been fortunate if she had been born to Them in another time, another world. Perhaps she could have averted the disasters he had caused.

No, he had been too prideful then. His arrogance and anger would have drowned out any protests she might have made. Still ... No, such thoughts were pointless. His path was set as was hers. 

“I have done what I can for now. Have someone apply a new poultice and bandage your hand.” he said cooly. Then in an authoritative voice he added, “And do not use your hand or cast magic.”

“Ma serannas, hahren.” she said with a slight bow of her head.

His heart twisted at her words. She was truly extraordinary and fascinatingly unpredictable. Although she might use their words, she was not of the People he reminded himself. His loyalty must remain with Them. For now, the Inquisitor and he walked the same path, but it was inevitable that would end. He hoped that when that time came that they could merely part ways, but he expected that it would not be so easy. She was as devoted to her people as he was to his.

_Ir abelas._ he thought as he walked away.

**********************

They were stranded until the Inquisitor’s hand healed. Cullen sent scouts back to Skyhold to return the dracolisk and bring a less vicious mount for the Inquisitor. Evelyn had argued when he said that the lizard needed to leave saying that “Nippy” as she had taken to calling the creature hadn’t meant to hurt her. Cullen didn’t back down. The beasts intentions meant little when its actions could cause such damage.

Solas estimated it would take three days to heal her hand to the point that she could reliably use the mark. Evelyn was fit to be tied by the evening of the first day. The pain was manageable, but not being able to use magic was making her miserable. _How do mundanes survive this way?_ Evelyn thought as she pulled another blanket around her. She was particularly missing her warming spells in the mountain air.

Cullen must have noticed her chill. He sat beside and put an arm around her shoulders. “Are you just cold, or are you developing a fever?” he asked with worry.

“Cold and annoyed. Nippy didn’t mean any harm. He was just hungry.”

“Evelyn...” he said with a sharp look.

She sighed. “I know. I know. So what did you send for as a replacement?”

“I asked Dennet to send a horse, a hart, and a nug. My preference would be that you take the horse, but I’ll let you decide which you will use.” 

“The horses always throw me off. The hart is noisy, and the nug is too fat to ride comfortably. That’s why I picked Nippy in the first place.”

Cullen couldn’t believe she was still defending the lizard. She was loyal to a fault. “Take a horse. I’ll correct your riding form. You probably aren’t keeping your heels down. Most beginners don’t.” 

“Will you be nicer than you were during the swimming lesson?” she pouted.

“Probably not.” he said with a superior grin.

She groaned but cuddled closer to him. “So have you thought about our sleeping arrangements?”

He had not. At Skyhold, Evelyn and he were often in his office until quite late, then they would discretely retire to her quarters. He woke early and got ready in his own room each morning. Casual observers were unaware of where he slept although their close friends knew better. If it were just her inner circle with them, Cullen would readily accept their lurid commentary and share a tent with Evelyn. A large contingent of his men were traveling with them to Sahrnia to relieve troops stationed there. That made his decision more difficult. There would be no denying how intimately involved he and the Inquisitor had become if he didn’t sleep away from her.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I think I’m miserably cold and could use a bedwarmer. But if you prefer to stay with your troops, I will shiver in silence.”

“There will be rumors...” he started.

“No, there already _are_ rumors. We’d just be confirming them.” 

“Well, I’d hate for you to be cold.”

Evelyn’s eyes twinkled at his pronouncement. He’d made the right call.

********************

“It was going so well, and then he had to get in the last word.” Evelyn said in frustration as she undressed for the night.

Cullen had already changed into his night clothes. He was inspecting his armor as he listened to Evelyn describe Varric giving Cassandra the latest installment of Swords and Shields. Cassandra was a closet fan of Varric’s smutty series, and Evelyn had convinced him to write a new installment as a gift for the Seeker. Evelyn was determined to push the two together, and the book had been her first attempt at making that happen.

“What did he say exactly?” Cullen asked.

Evelyn had made it down to her smalls and crossed the tent to dig through a chest for a night shirt. Cullen’s eyes followed her progress and soaked up the view as she rummaged through the chest.

“He made some remark about sharing the book with her friends... if she had any.”

Cullen grimaced. He had jokingly suggested the pairing, but Evelyn had taken his thought seriously. “Ev, maybe you should let this one go. They can’t stand each other.”

“Yes, but you can dislike someone so much that you end up liking them. Look at us.” she offered as proof.

“I never _disliked_ you. I was unsure of your motivations.”

“Uh huh. You can try to sugar coat it, but I saw those templar details you had follow me around Haven.” Cullen thought about defending his actions but opted to stay quiet. Evelyn felt no such compunction and continued, “Well, I definitely didn’t like you at first. You were a templar, a know-it-all, and annoyingly handsome.”

“Ex-templar.” he corrected.

“See you’re still a handsome know-it-all, and I love you anyway.”

“Varric seems dedicated to Bianca. And Cassandra ... I don’t know if she has much interest in romance.”

“You’re kidding - right? We are talking about the same Cassandra Pentaghast that has stacks of poetry books and smutty novels. You don’t think she’s a romantic?”

“I’ve never heard the Seeker mention a lover.”

“She couldn’t talk about him. He was a mage.”

Cullen nearly dropped the breastplate he had been examining. “Seeker Pentaghast, Right Hand of the Divine, was involved with a mage?” The sheer hypocrisy of Cassandra’s commentary on his infatuation with Evelyn in the early stages of the Inquisition struck him as hilarious. He started to chuckle.

“Yes, they were together off and on for nearly twenty years. He died at the Conclave.”

“Twenty years? If they were a couple that long, Cassandra may not be ready for another commitment. Given the severity of the punishment they would have received had their relationship been discovered, she must have cared for him a great deal.”

“Twenty years off and on. They were on a break when the Conclave met.”

“On a break?” 

“You know - not really together. The mage/templar war had made things difficult between them. That’s beside the point. Her situation with Regalyan is just like Varric’s with Bianca. Years of yearning for someone with a few stolen moments to hold dear.”

“You’re starting to sound like the narrator of a romance novel.”

Evelyn wrinkled her nose and pulled the linen nightshirt she had gotten out of the trunk over her head. “Make fun of it all you want, but they are similar. And how would you know what the narrator of a romance novel sounds like anyway?”

Cullen’s ears went red. “I may have... well... read a few in my youth. The Chantry does little to _ahem_ instruct its charges about what occurs between a man and a woman.”

“Well, you must have been quite studious because you certainly know what you’re doing now.” Evelyn purred while running her uninjured hand down his chest.

Cullen took her hand and pressed it to his lips. As distracting as she was, he needed to address some business first. “I’m concerned about the time we are losing because of your injury. I was thinking of directing the troops to march ahead of us tomorrow. “

“Would you be going with them?”

“No, Knight-Captain Briony can handle that. Our small party will be able to move more quickly than my troops. I hope we will be able to make up for lost time once you are healed.” Cullen said using the tone he always adopted when discussing Inquisition business.

“You’re worried about Samson getting away. You aren’t thinking we should have headed there first - are you?” 

“I am concerned every day that monster is loose. I am not second guessing your decision, Inquisitor.”

“Well, that’s good. I might have needed to reprimand you otherwise.” Evelyn said in a sultry voice.

Cullen cleared his throat. She wasn’t going to make this easy. “I also wanted to discuss the red lyrium that is still in Emprise du Lion, _Inquisitor_.” Cullen said her title with emphasis to remind her they had work to accomplish.

“Yes, Commander?” she said while unbraiding her hair and shaking it loose. Her nightshirt fell askew in the process exposing her shoulder and collarbone. She made no effort to cover up.

Cullen averted his eyes and redirected his thoughts. “Your reports had mentioned the red lyrium having an ill effect on you and the other mages. Varric said his brother began to hallucinate when near it. How did the warriors fair?

Evelyn stopped her attempts at seduction. “Cassandra was unaffected which matches what we learned at Caer Oswin - that Seekers have some type of immunity to red lyrium. Bull and Blackwall never complained, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t bother them. Are you asking for yourself?”

Cullen nodded. “I know being near regular lyrium increases my withdrawal symptoms. I’m wanting to be prepared for what I might face.”

Evelyn sat cross-legged on her cot and motioned for Cullen to join her. “Being around the red lyrium gives me headaches and nausea, but the _feeling_ it gives me is more troublesome. Regular lyrium sings in harmony with the magic in my body. The red is discordant. It makes everything feel sharp - like the Fade is harder to reach even though the red lyrium thins the Veil. I don’t know how that will translate for you. Please, if things get bad, you have to promise to tell me.”

“I will. Our troops have destroyed much of what you found there earlier, still I know the land is very tainted. How long do you think we’ll be in Sahrnia?”

“My hope is two days at the most. If the first rift closes easily, we may be able to tackle the next one in the same day. Then we could leave even sooner. I want to get to Samson’s camp as much as you. Are there any other matters to which we must attend?” Evelyn responded in a business-like tone.

“Just one,” he smirked while leaning in to kiss her.

**Author's Note:**

> My head canon is that Solas cares for the Inquisitor and regrets manipulating her. I wouldn't say he _loves_ her, but he admires her spirit and wishes they had met under different circumstances.
> 
> Did you spot the "Friends" reference in the story?


End file.
